Unrequited
by SawyerRaleigh
Summary: A tribute to two characters whose love went unrequited.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: So normally I only write X fanfiction but this idea was bugging me... I may continue it eventually, I did actually have a more involved story beyond this in mind but who knows when I will next have time/be inspired to work on it. XD_

_.  
_

The thing she remembered most about that night was the way his smile looked just like the slender crescent moon behind him; sharp, cold and distant.

The thing he remembered most about that night was the way the faint smell of incense strained through the breeze every time it caught her long tendrils of hair. It was a smell he had always associated with beautiful, dark things.

The cool air of the evening crept beneath layers of her kimono, kissing her skin with a damp chill that promised to linger in both her body and heart.

The usual sounds of animal life were strangely absent and he wondered if they had all gone into hibernation early. Only the sound of the wind whistling through the grass and leaves and clothes remained, an empty sound that merely filled in the gap, waiting for one of them to speak.

He broke first. The thin layer of frost that had formed over the ground crackled, falling in fragile chips of ice under his feet as he took a few steps closer.

"You have a wish?"

She was clearly wealthy and well-taken care of. No peasant had time to comb their hair out to such silky fine strands or money to afford such soft, intricately designed clothing. Nor could they even dream of wearing silk adorned with gold and silver trimmings. Combined with her delicate features and gracefully reserved mannerisms, he guessed that she was nobility of some sort. She was pale, perhaps from not enough rest and too many nights beneath the stars, and maybe a little thinner than necessary, but neither was for lack of food or medical attention. She had her basic needs well-covered.

Not that any of that mattered, he knew. If travelling and granting wishes had taught him anything over the years it was that what people needed and what they wished for were completely different things. Those who had everything were often the ones who wished for more. And so many people wished for things they couldn't have. He knew that part best of all; observation pales in comparison with first-hand experience after all.

He wondered where Kamui was now.

"A wish?"

It's a revealing thing, knowing people's deepest wishes. Being able to see them let him see who people really are, or at least he thought so. It's a private matter though. One's own desires should belong to only themselves he thought. Sometimes it felt like intruding on a personal conversation. After all, one's relationship with themself is more intimate than even any romance could ever be.

"Yes. A wish." He gave her an icy smile. He waited for it, for her to speak the wish she held most dear. The one he could see resting in the deepest part of her heart, gently enclosed in a golden cage, not to hold it where it was, but to protect it from what lay beyond.

"You grant them." It wasn't a question. She had foreseen his arrival in her dreams and knew well what he was.

He nodded anyway.

She lowered her eyes, standing still as a statue as she considered the frostbitten ground between them and the world waiting silently, as though holding its breath.

He imagined her fingering a golden key, considering every tiny turn of its jagged edge before slipping it into the door of the cage and-

"I wish for aid for a group of travelers."

The key clattered to the floor, the cage unopened.

"That is your wish?" He asked softly, feeling unfamiliar uncertainty.

"It is."

He understood the wish, knew precisely what she meant. Despite the vague request she had spoken aloud, her heart had made it quite clear. The wish itself was perfectly comprehensible, at least to him. What wasn't, was her choice to voice this particular wish. Then she raised her eyes again, studying him with veiled curiosity and he caught a glimpse of sage undercurrents.

He bowed, out of respect not for her position as dreamseer or princess, but for her ability to put aside her own true desire for this wish. Then he disappeared again into the night, just as quietly as he had arrived, dissolving into the watery tendrils that captured the moonlight in blinding silver streaks that sank into the earth without leaving a trace.

Like a dream he was gone, and Tomoyo was left once more with her thoughts.

Her true wish… He had wondered why she hadn't spoken it aloud, why she had not sought his aid in fulfilling it.

She swept across the grass back to the palace, letting frost cling to and sparkle across the hem of her robes.

He would not have been able to fulfill that wish for her. That much, she had known as well as he had.

Her steps fell silent on the polished marble floor.

After all, no one, not even one as gifted as Fuuma could make someone fall in love.

Tomoyo knelt by a bathing pool, staring at the glistening reflection that lay in its still waters. She was right, her eyes did hold the same patient but sorrowful acceptance that his had.

She wondered who it was that he knew would never return his own affection.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Yay it's time for NaNoWriMo! :D For those who don't know, over the course of National Novel Writing Month, there is a challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days and I've taken on that challenge with the intention of using it partly to update every single one of my unfinished stories posted here. ^_^ So I apologize in advance to those of you who have me on a watch list and are suddenly getting spammed with all of my stuff and to those of you who I'm knocking off of the front page with updates! :O I don't mean to crowd you all out, I promise!_

_._

Chapter 2

Fuuma had met the space-time witch before. It was difficult for people in their particular trades not to cross paths actually, which at times had caused strife when the person in question did not take well to him in some way. Yuko, however, had seen him as useful and they had swiftly formed a relatively symbiotic relationship with the understanding that while they had a certain friendly chemistry, distance would always be necessary in their fields of work. It never ended well, getting too attached to someone you might never see again. He had learned that the hard way.

Still, he could not quite suppress the feeling of returning home each time he arrived in her shop.

"Eh?" A bespectacled young man poked his head out the door as Fuuma appeared in the front yard. "Ah it's you. Yuko-saaan!" he called back in the shop. "Weird glasses dude is here to see you again!"

Fuuma chuckled as stepped over the threshold, feeling a tingle of power like an electric charge as he did so. "Couldn't that refer to you?"

"Weird glasses! Weird glasses!" Maru and Moro chanted as they danced around a furious Watanuki.

"Shut up!" He barked back at them.

"Ugggh. What is all this noise so early in the morning?" Yuko slumped against the doorframe. "Ah! Fuuma-kun!" She gave him a shaky smile.

"Hung over again?"

"Well it was such good sake, it would have been a shame to waste it."

"And much better to get wasted?" Fuuma laughed.

"Exactly. Watanuki." She whined at the young man still bickering noisily with Maru and Moro. "Could you-"

"Yes, yes." The boy waved his hand dismissively. "I was about to leave for the pharmacy anyway when this guy showed up." He jerked his head in Fuuma's direction before pulling on his shoes and exiting the front yard.

"Does it ever make you jealous?" Fuuma asked softly, watching the boy disappear behind the fence that enclosed the shop's grounds and acted as a barrier between it and the rest of space and time.

Yuko hummed. "What?"

"Being able to leave the shop."

She gave him a slow, pained smile. "I was able to do so once. I have seen the world outside of this one." She rested a hand lovingly against the doorframe. "I chose this life as much as it chose me for a reason."

"Are you ever going to share that reason with me?"

"Maybe someday." She gestured for him to follow her inside. "But it's not the kind of path that would suit someone like you."

Fuuma chuckled. "No, I'm far too fond of my travels to sacrifice that, you're right."

Yuko glanced over one bare shoulder, fixing him with a penetrating stare. "That isn't what I meant."

"Oh? What did you mean then?" Fuuma sank down onto a silk cushion.

"Love is different for every person." Yuko responded vaguely. "Now while Watanuki is still out and about. What was it you wanted to see me about?"

"I have a wish that I need your help on."

Thunder rolled outside, still far away but nonetheless a distant warning.

"Maru! Moro!" Yuko called. "Bring in the items Watanuki left out on the lawn so they don't get wet!"

"A group of travelers will need aid."

Yuko stared out the window, watching the dark gray clouds gathering over the city.

"Helping them will cost a great deal." She remarked casually.

"I know."

"Why is it so important that you grant this wish?" Yuko tilted her head slightly.

"Call it obsessive compulsive." Fuuma grinned back. "You know I can't seem to resist. Besides, it's not like you're one to talk." He gave her a pointed look.

"You know my interest in Watanuki is strictly business." Yuko replied smoothly.

"Hm."

Yuko waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway, about the cost." A shadow fell across her features. "As I said… it will be great."

Fuuma gave a nonchalant shrug but felt his heart pound in anticipation. "What is the price?"

"Your memories."

"What, all of them? That's going to make my work rather tricky." He joked.

"No, not all of them."

He sobered in spite of himself.

"Just the ones of him."

Fuuma stared at the table, at the swirls of white dragons snaking their way across the glass top.

"Do you still want to go through with it?"

He trailed one finger around the curve of the nearest dragon's belly, trying not to notice that it had sky-blue eyes.

"I would like time to consider it."He sighed at long last.

Yuko did not respond.

"But I don't have that kind of time." He finished.

"So the question is, once again, is it worth it?"

"I don't know, is it?"

Yuko gave him a somewhat saddened look. "I cannot decide that for you."

"What will happen if I meet him again once my memories are gone?"

Yuko gave him a look that spoke of centuries worth of sadness and loss. "You know that the feelings will never be returned, even if you fall in love all over again."

He smiled sadly at the table. "I know." He sighed heavily. "But it would be worth it anyway."

"You think so?"

It was Fuuma's turn to study Yuko carefully as she wistfully looked away.

"Watanuki… he still hasn't realized has he?"

Yuko didn't respond, staring outside at the gathering storm clouds looming in the distance.

At long last she turned to face Fuuma again with a grave, but more professional look. "Well?"

"I'll do it."

She gave him a soft smile and leaned forward, resting a hand against his cheek.

And then all went dark.

.

.


End file.
